Tuesday, 28 February 2017

Iraq forces seize Mosul bridge as thousands of civilians flee

Iraq forces seize Mosul bridge as thousands of civilians flee

Iraqi forces seized a damaged Mosul bridge on Monday which could
link up their units on either side of the Tigris river, as thousands of
civilians fled the fighting for Islamic State's remaining stronghold in
the west of the city.
US-backed army and police units advanced
through populated western districts, fighting tough street battles, and
announced they had captured Mosul's southernmost bridge.
Once
repaired, the bridge could help bring reinforcements and supplies from
the eastern side, piling pressure on the militants dug in the western
side among 750,000 civilians.
Iraqi forces captured eastern Mosul
in January, after 100 days of fighting. They launched their attack on
the districts that lie west of the Tigris a week ago.
If they
defeat Islamic State in Mosul, that would crush the Iraq wing of the
caliphate that the group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared in 2014
over parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria. The US commander in Iraq has
said he believes US-backed forces will recapture both Mosul and Raqqa -
Islamic State's Syria stronghold - within six months.
Since
government forces broke through the city's southern limits on Thursday,
more than 10,000 civilians have fled IS-held areas, seeking medical
assistance, food and water, Iraqi commanders said.
About 1,000
civilians arrived in the early hours of Monday at the sector held by the
Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), the wounded taken to the clinic of
this elite unit, while men were screened to make sure they are not IS
members.
Among the people treated at the CTS clinic was a little
girl with a blood on her face and a woman with shrapnel in her hand,
lying immobile, apparently unconscious.
An old man who came with
them said about 20 people were sheltering in their house when it was hit
by an air strike two days ago in the southwestern Maamoun district.
Those who managed to escape have had to walk through the desert for at least an hour to reach government lines.

Running for cover

Several
thousand militants, including many who traveled from Western countries
to join up, are believed to be still in Mosul, prepared for a fierce
standoff amid a remaining civilian population of 750,000.
The
United Nations World Food Programme said on Monday it was extremely
concerned about dire humanitarian situation facing families in western
Mosul.
A Reuters reporter saw several trucks teeming with people, lifting columns of sand and dust as they drove away from the city.
One
had two women and infants riding in the cabin. The rest stood on the
open bed, held on to the truck from outside, or sat on top of the cabin.
"They booby trapped our homes and our cars," said an old woman.
A
Western volunteer medic at the CTS clinic said a boy with a gunshot
wound that shattered his knee was among those treated on Monday, and a
pregnant woman who had both legs amputated.
"Most of those who
arrive to this point are hungry and thirsty and suffering neglect, and
need medical care," CTS Brigadier General Salman Hashim told
Reuters.Army, police, CTS and Rapid Response units forces attacking
Islamic State in west Mosul are backed by air and ground support from
U.S.-led coalition, including artillery fire. U.S. personnel are
operating close to the frontlines to direct air strikes.
Iraqi
troops have already captured the southern and western accesses to
western Mosul, dislodging the militants from the airport, a military
base, a power station and three residential district, al-Maamoun,
al-Tayyaran and al-Josaq, according to military statements.
"The
more we advance, the fiercer the resistance," said Lt. Colonel Abdel
Amir al-Mohammadawi, from the Rapid Response units that are fighting
near the southernmost bridge, one of five spanning the Tigris.
All
of them were damaged in strikes by the US-led air coalition, and later
by Islamic State fighters trying to seal off the western bank still
under their control.
Iraqi forces have reached 1 kilometer (less
than 1 mile) from the old city center and the main government buildings,
the capture of which would effectively mean the fall of Mosul.
The militants are using mortar, sniper fire, booby traps and suicide car bombs to fight off the offensive.
They
are facing a 100,000-strong force made up of Iraqi armed forces,
regional Kurdish peshmerga fighters and Iranian-trained Shi'ite Muslim
paramilitary groups.

Iraqi forces reach key bridge in western Mosul

MOSUL // Iraqi forces reached the western
Mosul’s southernmost bridge Monday, a key step in the offensive to drive
ISIL from the city.

The advance, a little more than a week into a
major push to retake Mosul’s west bank, could allow the army to extend a
floating bridge between the city’s two halves and pile pressure on the
extremists.
"The Rapid Response force and the federal police have
liberated Jawsaq neighbourhood and now control the western end of the
Fourth Bridge," said Brig Gen Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the Joint
Operations Command overseeing the fight against ISIL.
"That means the bridge is under control on both sides," Brig Gen Rasool said.
The
Fourth Bridge is the southernmost of five bridges linking western Mosul
to the eastern half of the city across the Tigris river. All of the
bridges were rendered unusable by US-led air strikes last year as part
of a strategy to isolate the militants in the two halves of the city.
Government
forces retook eastern Mosul from ISIL last month, completing a key
phase in an offensive on the city that began on October 17 and has
involved tens of thousands of fighters.
Engineering
units are now expected to deploy a so-called "ribbon bridge" across the
Tigris that will allow the connection of the western side’s active
front lines to the east bank.
Brig Gen Rasool said the interior
ministry’s Rapid Response force had retaken two neighbourhoods on the
west bank, while forces from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service have
retaken another further west.
"The street fighting is intense,
these are populated neighbourhoods," he said. "But our forces are
fighting deep in the west, the enemy is broken."
Iraq
forces were also retaking desert territory south-west of the city to
further cut off Mosul from ISIL-held territory in Syria.
"In
general, all the troops are moving forward as planned and doing so
rapidly," said Staff Lt Gen Abdelamir Yarallah. He was speaking from
Talul Al Atshana, the highest point in Nineveh province, of which Mosul
is the capital.
Mosul was ISIL’s last urban bastion in Iraq, and
its recapture would crown more than two years of a bloody
counter-offensive to retake the third of the country lost to ISIL in
2014.
ISIL
fighters have taken up positions deep inside the western half of the
city, and while Iraqi forces are still advancing steadily, the battle is
expected to get tougher the closer they get to the centre. Some streets
are too narrow for military vehicles and will oblige troops to advance
on foot.
Iraqi helicopters and warplanes from the US-led coalition
against ISIL have played a key role in recent gains, but the density of
the civilian population in west Mosul limits air support. There were an
estimated 750,000 civilians and about 2,000 militants in the area
before the offensive on west Mosul began.
The United Nations food agency said accounts from people who had managed to flee were very alarming.
"We
are hearing from some families that food has drastically risen in price
and is unaffordable. In extreme cases, people cannot access food at
all," said Sally Haydock, chief of the World Food Programme in Iraq.
The
UN has said it was planning for a possible exodus of 250,000 people or
more from west Mosul, yet only a few hundred families have fled their
homes as Iraqi forces retook their neighbourhoods over the past week.
Some
are unable to leave because ISIL uses them as human shields, while
others decide against exposing themselves to crossfire or leaving their
property unprotected.
Some residents may also be ISIL supporters
willing to help the extremists in their last stand, or afraid to face
arrest if they leave.